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Late order heroics not enough in second ODI

Dockrell's all-round effort in vain as tail-end fire with the bat

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NOTTINGHAM, England – Despite record 9th and 10th wicket stands for Ireland, and career-best scores for Barry McCarthy, Craig Young and Josh Little, the Men in Green fell to a 48-run loss to England in the second of the three-match One Day International (ODI) series at Trent Bridge.

George Dockrell’s all-round performance – scoring 43 runs and taking 3-43 – grabbed the plaudits for Ireland, it wasn’t enough to stop a rampant England from claiming a win to go 1-0 up in the three-match series after game 1 was lost to the weather.

Ireland made one change from the side that beat Nepal in their last One Day International – with Craig Young coming in for Gareth Delany, while England gave international debuts to Sam Hain, Jamie Smith, Tom Hartley, and George Scrimshaw.

In stark contrast to Headingley on Wednesday, Trent Bridge was bathed in sunshine, as Ireland captain Paul Stirling won the toss and elected to bowl first, looking to extract some movement from the pitch early on. However, it was England who started on the front foot, with openers Phil Salt and Will Jacks striking 55 off the first six overs.

To stop the flow of runs, Stirling turned to his change-bowler Young – and that decision proved incisive as the North Down paceman took two wickets in three balls – first he removed Salt (28) clipping the ball straight to Stirling at extra cover, and Zak Crawley (0) trapped lbw.

With Ireland looking to capitalise on the in-roads, England’s Will Jacks (94) and Ben Duckett (48) began to counter-attack with a 101-run stand – followed up by debutant Sam Hain smashing 89 off 82 balls – and England finished strongly registering 334-8 from their 50 overs.

While the numbers looked like it was a tough day out for the Irish bowlers, the truth was that – the first six overs aside – they acquitted themselves reasonably well, but were met by a home side that came out swinging and determined to ride their luck at times.

Set a target of 335, Ireland’s top-order started well scoring 46 from the first 26 balls, but soon found themselves two wickets down after Andrew Balbirnie (14) and Stirling (25) in two balls. Curtis Campher (9) and Lorcan Tucker (11) came and went, but
Harry Tector stroked a confident 39 (five fours) before succumbing to Rehan Ahmed – following a spectacular diving catch by Jacks – and Ireland were reeling at 121-5 in the 20th over.

More wickets fell and when Mark Adair was trapped in front for 12, Ireland was heading to an early defeat at 157-7. Or so those watching the game may have reasonably surmised. Dockrell (43) began to play more expensively, while McCarthy (with an ODI career-best 41), Young (with a career-best 40*) and Little (with a career-best 29) showed spirited fight and resilience, to bring the game into the final four overs.

In the end Ireland had conceded too many runs with the ball early and had spent the match trying to catch up. The defeat made narrower with ODI-record ninth wicket and tenth wicket partnerships of 43 and 55 respectively.

The sides will meet again in the final ODI on Tuesday 26 September at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol, with a 12.30pm start.